Monquira Archaeological Park, Boyaca, Colombia

El Infiernito, or “The Little Hell,” is the popular name for the Parque Arqueológico de Monquirá, a pre-Columbian ceremonial and astronomical site used by the Muisca civilization. The Spanish conquistadors gave it that ominous nickname because they misunderstood the site's spiritual and fertility rituals. What they found were rows of phallic stone monoliths, some over 2 meters tall, which the Muisca used in fertility ceremonies and as solar observatories to track solstices and equinoxes.

The Zaquenzipa Astronomical Observatory, sometimes used interchangeably with El Infiernito, refers to the Muisca’s use of the site as a solar calendar. The alignment of the stones allowed them to measure the sun’s position throughout the year, helping them determine planting and harvest times.

Today, the site is open to visitors and includes not only the monoliths but also dolmenic tombs, believed to be burial places for high-ranking individuals. It’s a powerful blend of archaeology, astronomy, and indigenous spirituality, all set against the stunning Andean landscape.

Archaeological Museum of Villa de Leyva - Solar Muisca Observatory
The Muisca civilization, which thrived in the highlands of present-day Colombia before the Spanish conquest, had a remarkably sophisticated understanding of astronomy that was deeply woven into their daily life, agriculture, and spirituality.

They used solar and lunar observations to develop a complex calendar system that guided planting, harvesting, and religious ceremonies. Their astronomer-priests, known as xeques, were responsible for interpreting celestial events and maintaining the calendar. These xeques also played key roles in rituals and were considered spiritual leaders.
One of the most striking examples of Muisca astronomy is El Infiernito, near Villa de Leyva. This site features rows of stone monoliths aligned with the sun’s position during solstices and equinoxes, functioning as a solar observatory. The Muisca also built temples dedicated to celestial deities like Sué (the Sun) and Chía (the Moon), reflecting their dualistic cosmology.
Their myths and sacred geography were also astronomically inspired. For instance, the Temple of the Moon in Chía was aligned with lunar cycles, and many ceremonial routes and settlements were laid out according to celestial patterns.

Villa de Leyva Archaeological Park - General Location

Main entrance
Phallic monoliths
Dolmen tomb
Muisca observatory

4a. Northern Sacred Field
4b. Southern Sacred Field

Administrative area

Solar observatory

«The rectangle comprised by the two rows of columns, located in the westward direction, possibly constituted a sacred field intended both to receive the sun as it appeared on the horizon and to follow and observe its movement to its zenith position, a phenomenon that the Muisca sages determined by means of pillars erected in the open air, in order to record the shadows that marked the solstices and equinoxes on the ground.» Eliecer Silva Celis, Ethnologist and Archaeologist at the University of Paris. Founder of the Villa Leyla Archaeological Park.

«These astronomical events should be celebrated with spiritual rituals related to fertility and fecundity.»

Panorama of the Muisca observatory, seen from the west

Another view of the Muisca observatory, seen from the west

Panorama of the phallic monoliths

The Phallus - Symbol of Fertility

«The sacredness of human sexuality and the concern for the fertility of the fields are revealed in these colossal carved monoliths, charged with transcendent spiritual and magical forces and values by virtue of which such carved forms, when erected and consecrated, ceased to be simple natural things to become Hierophany, that is, symbolic manifestations of the sacred, and were the object of religious and magical cults and rites by the Muiscas.

The arrival of the Sun to the Zenith at this latitude (5º 31' 15" N) was and is fulfilled twice a year. The natives believed that the instantaneous disappearance of the shadow of the Sun in these columns was a sign that the luminous star was anthropomorphized and through them descended to Earth to fertilize it. Such an extraordinary cosmic marriage was regularly fulfilled in March and September and was the object of great religious and magical festivals directed with great liturgical pomp by the Chibcha astronomer priests.» Eliecer Silva Celis, Ethnologist and Archaeologist at the University of Paris. Founder of the Villa Leyla Archaeological Park.

Dolmen tomb

«"Tomb built of lithic material (stone), exclusively used to house the mortal remains of figures of high social and spiritual rank.

This collective tomb, located in such an important place, suggests that the human skeletal remains found inside correspond to ancestral scholars dedicated to the observation and contemplation of astronomical phenomena, constituting an integral cosmogony between universe, nature and human beings as a whole, conceiving and space within a single concept according to the astral cycles."» Eliecer Silva Celis, Ethnologist and Archaeologist at the University of Paris. Founder of the Villa Leyla Archaeological Park.